diff --git a/spec/cbor/from_cbor_spec.cr b/spec/cbor/from_cbor_spec.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73ddde4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/cbor/from_cbor_spec.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+require "../spec_helper"
+
+describe "CBOR helpers on basic types" do
+  describe "#from_cbor" do
+    tests = [
+      {String, Bytes[0x61, 0x61], "a"},
+      {UInt8, Bytes[0x18, 0x18], 24},
+      {UInt16, Bytes[0x19, 0x03, 0xe8], 1000},
+      {UInt32, Bytes[0x1a, 0x00, 0x0f, 0x42, 0x40], 1000000},
+      {UInt64, Bytes[0x1b, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xe8, 0xd4, 0xa5, 0x10, 0x00], 1000000000000},
+      {Int8, Bytes[0x29], -10},
+      {Bytes, Bytes[0x44, 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04], Bytes[0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04]},
+    ]
+
+    tests.each do |tt|
+      type, bytes, want = tt
+
+      it "decodes #{type.class}" do
+        res = type.from_cbor(bytes)
+        res.should eq(want)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/cbor/decoder.cr b/src/cbor/decoder.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ffbc18a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cbor/decoder.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+class CBOR::Decoder
+  @lexer : Lexer
+  @current_token : Token::T?
+
+  def initialize(input)
+    @lexer = Lexer.new(input)
+    @current_token = @lexer.next_token
+  end
+
+  def read_string : String
+    case token = @current_token
+    when Token::StringT
+      finish_token!
+      token.value
+    when Token::BytesT
+      finish_token!
+      String.new(token.value)
+    else
+      unexpected_token(token, "StringT or BytesT")
+    end
+  end
+
+  def read_int
+    read_type(Token::IntT) { |token| token.value }
+  end
+
+  def read_bytes
+    read_type(Token::BytesT) { |token| token.value }
+  end
+
+  private def finish_token!
+    @current_token = @lexer.next_token
+  end
+
+  private macro read_type(type, finish_token = true, &block)
+    case token = @current_token
+    when {{type}}
+      {% if finish_token %}finish_token!{% end %}
+      {{ block.body }}
+    else
+      unexpected_token(token, {{type.stringify.split("::").last}})
+    end
+  end
+
+  private def unexpected_token(token, expected = nil)
+    message = "Unexpected token #{token.class}"
+    message += " expected #{expected}" if expected
+    raise ParseError.new(message)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/cbor/from_cbor.cr b/src/cbor/from_cbor.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf6e905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cbor/from_cbor.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+def Object.from_cbor(string_or_io)
+  parser = CBOR::Decoder.new(string_or_io)
+  new(parser)
+end
+
+def String.new(decoder : CBOR::Decoder)
+  decoder.read_string
+end
+
+{% for size in [8, 16, 32, 64] %}
+
+  def Int{{size.id}}.new(decoder : CBOR::Decoder)
+    decoder.read_int.to_i{{size.id}}
+  end
+
+  def UInt{{size.id}}.new(decoder : CBOR::Decoder)
+    decoder.read_int.to_u{{size.id}}
+  end
+
+{% end %}
+
+def Slice.new(decoder : CBOR::Decoder)
+  decoder.read_bytes.to_slice
+end
diff --git a/src/cbor/lexer.cr b/src/cbor/lexer.cr
index 67da52d..0cb7b05 100644
--- a/src/cbor/lexer.cr
+++ b/src/cbor/lexer.cr
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 class CBOR::Lexer
   BREAK = 0xff
 
-  def self.new(string : String)
-    new IO::Memory.new(string)
-  end
-
   def self.new(slice : Bytes)
     new IO::Memory.new(slice)
   end